The mass shooting Saturday morning at a Pittsburgh synagogue led two Milwaukee Jewish leaders to decry anti-semitism across the country and what they said is violent rhetoric coming from American leaders, including President Donald Trump.

For his part, Trump, who has been widely criticized for making inflammatory comments, condemned the shooting and "hate in our country," as did a fellow Republican, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville.

"The sickening reality is that anti-semitism in America continues to rear its ugly head," Ryan said in a statement. "It is an ideology of hate that must be eradicated wherever it may surface. This is a time to mourn and heal, but also to reaffirm that we will not tolerate this bigotry."

The Pittsburgh shooting also recalled a mass shooting in Ryan's congressional district. In 2012, a gunman later identified as a white supremacist burst into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek on a Sunday morning, killed six people and wounded four others. He then killed himself.

In 2005, seven people were killed and four wounded when a gunman opened fire at a Living Church of God service at the Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield. The gunman then committed suicide.

Hours after the Pittsburgh shooting, which reportedly left at least 11 people dead and the alleged gunman in custody, Elana Kahn, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, said the nation must demand more from its leaders.

“I think after we come together and support those who have been affected, and after we come together to mark the moment and grieve, we have to expect more of our leaders," Kahn said in an interview Saturday afternoon. "We have to call them out on the language that they’re using. It is a violent language.

“The idea of hearing any elected official call people names or blame an entire group of people for society's problems is totally unacceptable and we have to stop falling for it.”

Kahn said she was not only referring to Trump but to other political leaders as well.

“It’s not partisan to say that I expect the president of the entire United States to behave like a mensch, to speak in language that I would be proud to share with my own children," she said.

Trump praised law enforcement's response in the shooting and called the suspect in custody a "madman" and a "wacko." He said he would like to see more armed guards at synagogues and other places of worship and impose more death penalty sentences on convicted murderers.

"It's a terrible, terrible thing what's going on with hate in our country and, frankly, all over the world," Trump said. "Something has to be done."

The FBI is treating the Pittsburgh incident as a hate crime and is leading the investigation, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said at a news conference. The alleged gunman, Robert Bowers, 46, allegedly walked into the building and yelled "All Jews must die!" before opening fire.

Kahn said Jewish facilities around Milwaukee added security after the Pittsburgh incident.

Rabbi Jacob Herber, a consultant in Milwaukee for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, said in an interview: "Unfortunately, we’re living today in a climate of bigotry and racism, xenophobia, and there are words like 'nationalism' that are expressed with a very troubling regularity. And people like (the alleged shooter) act out on what they hear from leaders who should really set a standard for all of us, when it comes to justice and doing what’s right and uniting us. Unfortunately, the exact opposite has happened."

He added: "So, while the president spoke about there has to be a change and anti-semitism is terrible, when he does it from a teleprompter, I appreciate it. The question is, what happens when he's not standing in front of a teleprompter and what he actually does."

On Facebook, the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay issued a statement, noting that normally the center abstains from communications on Saturdays. The statement said in part:

"We believe in demonstrating our values and traditions; embracing the peace of Shabbat and empowering the families we serve to experience that joy.

"This morning, in Pittsburgh, that peace was shattered. In a horrific act of violence, a shooting occurred at a synagogue and a number of innocent lives were lost. Our hearts are broken, and our prayers extend to the entire community confronting this tragedy."

The Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee condemned the attack in a statement.

"Our prayers, our support, and our commitment to continue to act in solidarity are with those in Pittsburgh and our local Jewish community as they mourn and continue to struggle with the immoral scourge of anti-Semitism," the conference's statement said.